How to backpack your way through Europe

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Travelling through Europe is still one of the most popular ‘bucket list’ holidays many of us have. You’ll get to see so many amazing things and have truly incredible experiences whilst you soak up the many different cultures on your journey. During the most popular holiday seasons Europe is bursting with festivals, vibrant nightlife and the weather is near perfect, but it’s also not the cheapest. So what are your options for travelling on a budget? The good news is that Europe is a place for all budgets – you can find great accommodation, food and fun for a great affordable price.

Here are our top tips on travelling through Europe on a backpackers budget.

Planning

The first step you’ll need to do is to plan your trip. Start by listing down where you want to visit – think about the things you want to see and the experiences you want to have. Once you know your destinations you can start to plan your travel. Europe is very well-connected by trains as well as roads. So check Eurail for train tickets (they sell a range of train tickets that cover most EU journeys) and Eurolines for cross Europe coach tickets. Both of these offer affordable travel options. If you need to find cheap flights make sure you check out the low-cost carriers such as easyJet and Ryanair. Also, make sure you book your flights early, the later you leave it, the more expensive they typically are.

Accommodation

Now is the time to get your accommodation sorted out. Europe is full of really good places to stay, and many of them are specifically aimed at backpackers, so they’re clean, affordable and offer a great opportunity to meet others who are on the road too. Check out the YHA for some excellent hostels and campsites around the UK, and further afield in Europe. If you are looking for even cheaper accommodation then consider house sitting or Couchsurfing. You’ll get to stay with locals for a really low-cost and tap in to their insider knowledge of where you are staying.

Save money

When you are travelling you’ll have to be thrifty. You don’t want to find yourself out of money whilst you’re still on the move! Make sure you have your money sorted before you leave. Get yourself a Monese account so you won’t have to worry about getting charged high fees for accessing your money on your travels.

When it comes to daily expenses you should try to keep your food costs low. Instead of eating at restaurants catering for tourists, find more local places to eat; they’ll often be far cheaper and have much better quality food. If you have access to a kitchen consider buying some groceries and making food for a few days. Local ingredients in Europe are often very fresh and usually won’t have been grown or caught too far from where you bought it from. You’ll find a huge variety of excellent food in local markets or shopping areas, and they’ll often be far cheaper than you would expect.